Cibo Matto (,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "crazy food") was an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band formed by

Yuka Honda Yuka Honda is a Japanese-American musician who resides in New York City. She is a multi-instrumentalist (mainly piano, synthesizer, sampler and other keyboards), composer, record producer, and co-founder of the band Cibo Matto. Throughout her ...

and

Miho Hatori is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and musician. She is best known as a solo artist, co-founder of New York City band Cibo Matto, and as the first person to provide the voice of Noodle in the virtual band Gorillaz, as well as for her work with th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1994. Initially, the band's lyrics were primarily concerned with food, before expanding into broader subject matter following the addition of

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The ...

Timo Ellis Timothy Kneeland "Timo" Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer from New York City, and is frontman vocalist for the band Netherlands. In 1997 Ellis and Sean Lennon joined Cibo Matto. As a quartet (Yuka Honda, Miho Hatori, Ellis, ...

, and Duma Love to the band for their second studio album. While Honda and Hatori are Japanese

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s, the group initially did not gain as large a following in Japan as it did in the United States. Their first album ''

Viva! La Woman ''Viva! La Woman'' is the debut studio album by the band Cibo Matto, released on January 16, 1996, by Warner Bros. Records. The tracks "Birthday Cake" and "Know Your Chicken" were first released as singles in 1995. Following the release of ''Viva ...

'' sold 40,000 copies in Japan, but was more successful in the U.S., with over 74,000 copies sold. Over time, the group's following in Japan grew, which resulted in their signing to Japanese record label

Commmons Commmons is a Japanese record label founded by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Avex Group, Japan's biggest independent record label, is its official parent company. History Commmons was founded in 2006 by Sakamoto with the help of Avex and ...

in 2014. After an almost decade-long hiatus, Honda and Hatori reunited as Cibo Matto in 2011, playing a series of concerts and recording new material. They released their third and final studio album ''

Hotel Valentine ''Hotel Valentine'' is the third and final album by New York City-based band Cibo Matto. It was released through Sean Lennon's label Chimera Music on Valentine's Day (February 14), 2014. The album was produced by band members Miho Hatori and Yuka ...

'' on February 14, 2014. It peaked at number 168 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Cibo Matto announced their split in December 2017.

History

''Viva! La Woman'': 1994–1996

After working together in the

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

band Leitoh Lychee, Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda formed Cibo Matto in 1994 with Honda as the instrumentalist and Hatori as the vocalist (although occasionally Honda sang and Hatori contributed instrumentally). In 1995, Cibo Matto released a self titled EP on El Diablo Records. The EP caught the attention of

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, which signed Cibo Matto later in the year. Through Warner Bros., the duo released its first major album, ''

''. Cibo Matto is an

phrase that translates to "Crazy Food" and many of the tracks from ''Viva! La Woman'', which was produced by Mitchell Froom, featured lyrics related to food, including "Know Your Chicken", "Apple", and "Birthday Cake". The album's first single, "Sugar Water", was a modest college radio and dance hit. The song was accompanied by an innovative split screen

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

that was directed by

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

, where each side showed the same footage—one side going forward, and one backward, meeting mid-song. After the music videos for "Know Your Chicken" and "Sugar Water" enjoyed success on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, Cibo Matto made appearances on various television shows such as ''Oddville'', ''

Viva Variety ''Viva Variety'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on Comedy Central from April 1997 to December 1999. The series satirizes European variety shows. Overview The show stars Thomas Lennon as Meredith Laupin, Kerri Kenney as the form ...

'', and ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

''. "Birthday Cake" was heavily featured in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Jet Set Radio Future is a 2002 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Xbox; it is a sequel to the Dreamcast game ''Jet Set Radio'' (2000). As a re-imagining of the original game, it features improved gameplay mechanics, updated graphics, larg ...

''. In 1996, Cibo Matto contributed "Águas De Março (Waters of March)" to the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

benefit album '' Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin'', which was produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

''Stereo Type A'': 1997–2001

In 1997, Cibo Matto released a new EP entitled ''

Super Relax ''Super Relax'' is an EP by Cibo Matto released in 1997. Four of the nine tracks are versions of the song "Sugar Water" from the group's debut album, ''Viva! La Woman'', and "Spoon" would later appear (in a reworked version) on '' Stereo Type A'' ...

'', which would complete the line-up by introducing new members

and

with Duma Love joining soon thereafter. In 1998 Lennon released his debut solo album '' Into the Sun'', which featured Hatori ("Into the Sun", "Sean's Theme") and Ellis ("Mystery Juice", "Home", "Spaceship"). ''Into the Sun'' was produced and inspired by Honda (whom Lennon was dating at the time). Honda, Hatori, Ellis and Love appeared in the closing scene of the video for Lennon's single "Home". Cibo Matto went on to release its second album '' Stereo Type A'' in 1999. Although it was a departure from the familiar sound of ''Viva! La Woman'', ''Stereo Type A'' was well received by music critics. That year the band performed in Toronto with

Luscious Jackson Luscious Jackson is an alternative rock/ rap-rock group formed in 1991. The band's name is a reference to former American basketball player Lucious Jackson. The original band consisted of Jill Cunniff (vocals, bass), Gabby Glaser (vocals, guit ...

at The Opera House in Toronto.

Hiatus: 2002–2010

Cibo Matto continued to play live and tour until disbanding in 2002. Honda said: "We felt the need to move to the next step. It was a healthy decision, though it was sad at the same time. Things just need to grow out of things sometimes." All of the members of Cibo Matto went on to release solo material. A compilation entitled '' Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto'' was released in 2007.

Reunion and ''Hotel Valentine'': 2011–2017

Cibo Matto announced its reunion on March 18, 2011, to perform as part of a benefit concert for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The concert, which took place on March 27 at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City, also included

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

, John Zorn,

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

, and

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

. Following the success of this show, a second was added, this time featuring the

Plastic Ono Band The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name. Lennon and Ono began a personal and artistic relati ...

and

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

along with Cibo Matto. The group appeared at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

on June 26, 2011, for another benefit, alongside

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...

. On May 16, 2011, Cibo Matto announced its US reunion tour titled "Yeah, Basically Cibo Matto" with a tour Web sit
Wayback Machine
and promotional video. During the concerts, the band reportedly spoke about a new studio album that was to be released in 2012. On July 17, 2012, the band announced it would be opening for

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...

at one of its shows. The band included Yuko Araki on drums during this time. On June 15, 2013, the band played the Meltdown Festival in London and announced that its new album would be released in 2014. While the performance also featured

on "Know Your Chicken", the group also played new songs titled "MFN", "Check In", and "Tenth Floor Ghost Girl". On December 11, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' reported that ''

'' would be released on February 14, 2014 (

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

), and that Cibo Matto had shared its music video for "MFN". ''Hotel Valentine'' peaked at number 168 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 2014, the band signed with Japanese label

. This new relationship resulted in several live dates in Japan including

Summer Sonic Festival The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up cont ...

2014 and shows at Blue Note Jazz Club Nagoya and Blue Note Jazz Club Tokyo. In September 2014, Cibo Matto released a teaser video announcing their Fall Flavor Tour and a new music video. Rioux opened for multiple US shows. Nels Cline (of Wilco) also performed with the group on tour. The music video for "Déjà Vu" was released on September 18, 2014 in collaboration with New York City-based director Jean Claude Billmaier and creative house Marabigo. ''Pitchfork'' identified the video as "a colorful, datamosh-y new video", and '' Spin'' as a "stylish bubblegum pop-meets-digital-disaster (intentional)." Cibo Matto completed two small tours in 2015; an "Avocado Tour" of Japan and a "Banana Split Tour" across the eastern US and Canada. On December 11, 2017, Cibo Matto announced their breakup, explaining that this was a "necessary and positive change for

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...

Band members

: sampler, sequencer, keyboard, piano, organ, synthesizer, harpsichord, backing vocals (1994–2002, 2011–2017) *

: lead vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar (1994–2002, 2011–2017) *

: bass guitar, electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, drums, percussion, synthesizer, backing vocals (1997–2002) *

: drums, percussion, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals (1997–2002) * Duma Love: percussion, vocals, turntable, beat box (1997–2002) * Yuko Araki: drums, backing vocals (2011–2017)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:750 height:220 PlotArea = left:150 bottom:120 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:bvoc value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:bbox value:gray(0.5) legend:Beatboxing id:gray value:gray(0.75) legend:EPs id:black value:black legend:Studio_albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:01/01/1994 LineData = at:12/14/1995 color:gray layer:back at:01/16/1996 color:black layer:back at:01/28/1997 color:gray layer:back at:06/08/1999 color:black layer:back at:02/14/2014 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Miho text:"Miho Hatori" bar:Honda text:"Yuka Honda" bar:Lenn text:"Sean Lennon" Bar:Timo text:"Timo Ellis" Bar:Ark text:"Yuko Araki" bar:Duma text:"Duma Love" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Honda from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2001 color:purple bar:Honda from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2001 color:pink width:3 bar:Miho from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2001 color:red bar:Miho from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2001 color:claret width:7 bar:Miho from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/2001 color:green width:3 bar:Lenn from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:blue bar:Lenn from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:green width:9 bar:Lenn from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:purple width:7 bar:Lenn from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:orange width:5 bar:Lenn from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:pink width:3 bar:Duma from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:pink bar:Duma from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:bbox width:7 bar:Duma from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:claret width:3 bar:Timo from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:orange bar:Timo from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:blue width:7 bar:Timo from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:green width:5 bar:Timo from:01/28/1997 till:12/31/2001 color:pink width:3 bar:Honda from:03/18/2011 till:end color:purple bar:Honda from:03/18/2011 till:end color:pink width:3 bar:Miho from:03/18/2011 till:end color:red bar:Miho from:03/18/2011 till:end color:claret width:7 bar:Miho from:03/18/2011 till:end color:green width:3 bar:Ark from: 05/16/2011 till:end color:orange bar:Ark from: 05/16/2011 till:end color:pink width:3

Grand Royal involvement

Although Cibo Matto was represented by Warner Bros. Records, they were also considered to be a major part of the

Grand Royal Records Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by rap group Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings. ''Grand Royal'' was also the name of a magazine written a ...

family. * Under Grand Royal, Honda and Hatori formed side-project band Butter 08 (1996) with Russell Simins, Rick Lee and

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., h ...

. * Hatori collaborated with the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

(who founded Grand Royal) on their 1997 album, ''

Hello Nasty ''Hello Nasty'' is the fifth studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released by Capitol Records and Grand Royal Records on July 14, 1998. It sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album ...

''. *

released his debut album, '' Into the Sun'' (1998) on Grand Royal (which featured Honda, Hatori and Ellis). * Yumiko Ōno of

Buffalo Daughter Buffalo Daughter is a Japanese rock band formed in 1993. The three main members are suGar Yoshinaga (ex-Havana Exotica) on guitar, Yumiko Ohno (ex-Havana Exotica) on bass, and Moog (later changed to MoOog) Yamamoto on turntables and graphic desi ...

(a former Grand Royal band) contributed

moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

and backing vocals to ''Stereo-Type A'' (1999). * In 2000, Grand Royal released a compilation album titled ''At Home with the Groove Box'' in which Lennon contributed the song "Winged Elephants", while Honda and Hatori contributed the song "We Love Our Lawyers". The compilation also featured artists such as

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

and

. * In 2002, despite Grand Royal's recent "official" disbandment, the Grand Royal team was bought onto to provide additional soundtrack work on ''

''. A number of Grand Royal-associated acts were included on the soundtrack because of so, including Cibo Matto's "Birthday Cake".

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1996) *'' Stereo Type A'' (1999) *''

'' (2014)

EPs

*''

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Initially, the band's lyrics were primarily concerned with food, before expanding into broader subject ...

'' (1995) *''

'' (1997)

Singles

*"Birthday Cake" 7" (1995) *"Know Your Chicken" 7" (1996) *" Working for Vacation" (1999) *"Moonchild" (1999) *"Spoon" (1999)

Collections

*'' Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto'' (2007)

Music videos

*"Know Your Chicken" directed by

Evan Bernard Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others. Life and career After studying advertising design at Syrac ...

(1996) *"Sugar Water" directed by

(1996) *"MFN" directed by Georgia (2013) *"Déjà Vu" directed by Jean Claude Billmaier (2014)

In popular culture

The band's name appears in the lyrics of the

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...

song "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming ...

". They also appear in the second season of ''

'' episode "

When She Was Bad :''"When She Was Bad" is also the name of a book by Patricia Pearson'' "When She Was Bad" is the first episode in the second season of '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The episode was written and directed by series creator and executive producer J ...

", to play a concert in the fictional Sunnydale nightclub, the Bronze. Their song ''Birthday Cake'' appears in the 2002 video game ''

''.

References

External links

Cibo Matto official website
(archive) {{Authority control Art pop musicians Electronic music groups from New York (state) Hip hop groups from New York City Indie pop groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2017 Shibuya-kei musicians Trip hop groups Warner Records artists 1994 establishments in New York City